When the autumn wind began to blow.
The luggage I prepared for my trip to Taiwan...
I kept staring at the message screen with Yixiang again and again.
"I’m really going..."
A journey that began for my grandfather.
But now, there’s one more reason.
There’s someone I want to see.
Even just admitting that feeling
made my chest ache a little.
"I’m here."
When I left Taoyuan Airport, the slightly damp wind brushed my cheeks.
The same air as that day.
The same scent.
But today, I’m not alone.
Beyond the arrivals lobby, there was someone waving both arms.
"Over here!"
It was Yixiang.
A striped shirt, and slightly grown-out bangs.
We’d met through a screen so many times, but
meeting in person felt a little embarrassing.
"Long time no see."
"...Welcome back."
At those words, I couldn’t help laughing.
"Can I say ‘I’m home’?"
After looking a little surprised, Yixiang smiled gently.
"Of course."
"My grandfather’s been looking forward to today too."
Once we got in the car, Yixiang started talking happily.
"Yesterday, I spent a whole hour
wondering what to wear."
"Hehe."
I could imagine it, and laughed.
"Ah, but."
Yixiang’s expression turned a little serious.
"There’s something I want to give you today."
"A diary?"
"Yes."
"But that’s not all."
His words were suggestive.
I was about to ask, but
he smiled and changed the subject.
When we arrived at the school, my grandfather was waiting in front of the gate.
"The teacher’s grandchild."
Every time I was called that, my chest grew warm.
When we were shown to the living room, my grandfather carefully handed me a diary wrapped in cloth.
"This is..."
"I’ve wanted to give you this for a long time."
I opened the worn cover.
Inside were neatly written Japanese characters.
"Showa 20, March"
I turned the pages.
Days with my grandfather.
About class.
About the children.
And near the end,
there was one sentence written in red ink.
“There is a dream he still hasn’t been told about.”
I tilted my head.
A dream...?
What did my grandfather want to tell me?
On the way back.
I walked across the schoolyard at dusk.
Yixiang’s tense expression...
He said it a little shyly.
"This is from me."
He held out an unfamiliar sketchbook.
"Huh?"
"I was drawing it after you went back to Japan."
When I opened it...
The few days we spent in Taiwan were drawn across a whole book.
- Me, lost on the road
- My smiling face while eating sweets
- My profile as I laughed in the art room
- The banyan tree
- The way I was drawing sketches
Everything was a scene Yixiang had seen.
The last page was blank.
Yixiang smiled a little and said,
"Because I want to draw the last page together."
My face flushed too.
"And also..."
"I don’t know what my grandfather’s dream was either."
"Huh?"
"So, will you look for it with me?"
I smiled and nodded.
"Of course."
When I said that, Yixiang stopped walking.
At that moment.
Carried by the wind, a sheet of paper drifted down to our feet.
I picked it up.
It was an old sketch that had slipped from the diary.
It wasn’t the school building.
It was a place I didn’t know.
On the back, there was only one line in my grandfather’s handwriting.
‘The rest of the dream is here.’
Yixiang and I looked at each other.
"...So it wasn’t over yet."
The story of our grandfathers.
And our story too—.
